Spoken or Written?
Is this from a real-life conversation?
A: My little brother is a really good student.
B: Why do you say that?
A: Well, he is really smart, so he always gets good grades.
B: Maybe he gets good grades because he studies hard.
From an English textbook
What is Ellipsis?
Ellipsis is the omission of elements normally part of a certain structure and is found in both spoken and written English.
What is the difference between Fillers and backchannels?
Fillers are words and utterances like “er,” “well,” “hmm,” and “um” that do not have a specific meaning but rather fill time and allow the speaker to gather his or her thoughts (Willis 2003). Backchannels, on the other hand, are words and utterances like “uh-huh,” “oh,” “yeah,” and “I see” that are used to acknowledge what the speaker is saying and encourage him or her to continue (Stenström 2004)
Teachers who want to incorporate spoken grammar activities into their own classes must consider ________________ in light of their own specific teaching contexts. What are they?
1. Using authentic spoken texts
2. Identifying when to teach spoken grammar
3. Noticing versus producing spoken grammar
Activity:
Long and short versions of conversations
Can you say why this excerpt is from a real-life conversation?
A: Didn’t know you used boiling water.
B: Pardon?
A: Didn’t know you used boiling water.
B: Don’t have to but it’s um … they reckon it’s um, quicker.
True or False? Why?
Situational ellipsis often results in the omission of subjects and verbs. This is common for written and spoken English.
False
What are different functions for different phrasal chunks according to Cullen and Kuo (2007, 370)?
(1) create vagueness (e.g., “sort of,” “kind of,” and “stuff like that”), (2) modify and show politeness (e.g., “a bit” and “a little bit”), and (3) mark discourse structures (e.g., “you know” and “I mean”).
True or False?
Inauthentic materials need to be supplemented with authentic video, radio, and other audio materials to expose students to elements of spoken grammar.
True
Heads and tails with partners
True or False?
Written English is usually spontaneous and unplanned and produced in real-time with no opportunity for editing (Cullen and Kuo 2007).
False
Which example is with a head and which one without? Explain.
“The soccer game last night was really exciting.”
“The soccer game last night, it was really exciting.”
1 . No heading
2. With head
What are Phrasal Chunks? Provide your own examples.
Chunks are fixed words or phrases that can combine with other elements but act as ready-made lexical units of language, just as words do (Cullen and Kuo 2007).
Yes or No? Why?
Spoken grammar should be taught in all contexts—including EFL contexts.
YES
Add fillers and backchannels to student dialogues
What is "Shared context"?
Which features of Spoken Grammar are described in the following quotes?
1. ________ known as left-dislocation, are a way to introduce and orient listeners to a topic before giving information on the topic
2. ________ allow speakers to highlight the topic they want to talk about before commenting on it, giving both the speaker and the listener more processing time in real-time communication (Cullen and Kuo 2007).
1. Heads
2. Heads
What are the functions of Tails?
Tails have a range of functions, including clarifying a comment, expressing a personal attitude or judgment of an item, or serving an interpersonal function (Timmis 2010).
What is a “three I’s” methodology when teaching spoken grammar?
The “three I’s” stand for illustration, interaction, and induction, where spoken data is first presented, spoken grammar is highlighted, and learners are then encouraged to draw their own conclusions about and develop their capacity to notice features of spoken English (McCarthy and Carter 1995, 217).
Add phrasal chunks to conversations
Explain what “real-time processing,” is.
Explain what Tails are. Provide 3 examples.
Tails are comments that are added to the end of a phrase. For example:
“My teacher is really nice, the one from America.” (With tail)
Why do speakers rely on a relatively small number of fixed words and phrases?
Because of the pressures of real-time processing, speakers rely on a relatively small number of fixed words and phrases to fill particular grammar functions (Leech 2000).
Timmis (2005) recommends using four types of tasks when teaching characteristics of spoken English. What are they?
Cultural access tasks,
global understanding tasks,
noticing tasks, and
language discussion tasks.
Both of these approaches to teaching spoken English emphasize noticing and awareness-raising activities rather than production activities.
Interview project